Europe & Central Asia

  
Protesters hold up placards and pictures of the murdered Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia as they gather outside the prime minister's office in Valletta, Malta, on November 20, 2019. CPJ and other press freedom groups are reiterating their call for an independent investigation into the journalist's killing. (AFP/Matthew Mirabelli)

Malta must avoid political interference in Caruana Galizia investigation

CPJ and nine other international press freedom organizations today released a joint statement reiterating that the investigation into the assassination of Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia must be independent and free from political interference.

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Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, is seen in Moscow on April 17, 2019. The State Duma recently passed legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.” (Reuters/Sputnik/Alexander Astafyev)

CPJ joins call for Russian government to drop foreign agent bill

The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined nine other international press freedom organizations in signing a statement urging Russia to drop draft legislation that would add individual journalists and bloggers to the country’s list of “foreign agents.”

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Friends and family members of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia carry a banner calling for "Truth and Justice" in the investigation into her murder, in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2019. Her family and the Maltese government recently reached an agreement on the nature of the investigation. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

CPJ joins statement welcoming changes in inquiry of Daphne Caruana Galizia killing

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined eight other international press freedom organizations today in a statement welcoming an announcement that the Maltese government and the family of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia have agreed on the membership of the board appointed to investigate the circumstances of Caruana Galizia’s 2017 killing, and on the investigation’s scope.

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The logo of Russia's state communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, is reflected in a laptop screen in February 2019. Research by Censored Planet shows how Russia has imposed its censorship model in the past seven years. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)

Laws, cheap web filters arm Russia to block news, says Censored Planet

When Daniil Kislov tried to view the website of Fergana from his computer in Moscow on November 1, his browser showed him the now-familiar notification that the independent news outlet he directs had been blocked by order of Roskomnadzor, the national agency that regulates the internet in Russia, he told CPJ. Fergana has been blocked…

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CPJ
Covers of CPJ's 'Attacks on the Press' books. Starting in 1987, the annual publication acted as a database of press freedom violations. (CPJ/Mustafa Hameed)

CPJ deepens database of attacks on the press

He couldn’t have known it at the time, but when a Moroccan court sentenced editor Mohammed al-Herd on August 4, 2003, to three years in prison, he was emblematic of a new trend, one that would accelerate and continue to the present day.

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People lay flowers and candles at a memorial during a vigil and protest on the first anniversary of the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia outside the Courts of Justice in Valletta, Malta, on October 16, 2018. On the second anniversary of her murder, CPJ joined a call to end impunity in her case. (Reuters/Darrin Zammit Lupi)

CPJ joins call to end impunity in killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Two years after the assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and one year after CPJ joined five other organizations in an international press freedom mission to Malta, CPJ and nine other groups once again demanded an end to impunity for the heinous attack and renewed calls to ensure the independence of a public…

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A newsstand in Rome in May 2019. Over 20 journalists in Italy are provided with round-the-clock police protection because of threats from groups including the mafia. (Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane

‘I was the first to lose my freedom’: How police protection impacts Italy’s investigative reporters

Explaining the sudden presence of two grim-looking bodyguards in a way that wouldn’t scare her children was never going to be easy for Federica Angeli, a reporter for la Repubblica. So when Angeli returned home with police protection for the first time in July 2013, she tried to turn the situation into a game. “I…

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A court where journalists from the Zaman newspaper were tried is seen in Istanbul on July 6, 2018. CPJ joined 12 other groups in issuing a statement calling on U.N. member states to urge Turkey to improve its freedom of speech record. (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)

CPJ joins call to UN rights council for end to press crackdown in Turkey

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 12 other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations calling on the member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council to urge Turkey to end its repressive policies against independent reporting and free speech.

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Marija Pejcinovic Buric is seen after being elected as Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, on June 26, 2019. CPJ and other organizations recently sent a letter to Pejcinovic Buric, urging her to prioritize press freedom issues. (AFP/Patrick Hertzog)

CPJ joins call for new Council of Europe head to prioritize press freedom

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 21 other press freedom and freedom of expression organizations in sending an open letter to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric yesterday, calling on her to prioritize press freedom and the safety of journalists among the council’s 47 member states.

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Former staffers of the Turkish daily newspaper Cumhuriyet--cartoonist Musa Kart (C), columnist Guray Oz (L), board member Onder Celik (L2), layers Mustafa Kemal Gungor (R2), and columnist Hakan Kara (R)--speak with journalists after their release near from Kandira prison, in Kandira, Turkey, on September 12, 2019. A joint mission to Turkey found that the press freedom situation remains highly restrictive, despite some room for very cautious optimism. (Stringer/Cumhuriyet Daily Newspaper/AFP)

Press freedom situation in Turkey remains highly restrictive, despite some room for very cautious optimism, joint mission finds

This week, the Committee to Protect Journalists joined an international press freedom mission to Turkey that met with journalists, civil society, diplomats, the judiciary, and government officials. The visiting delegation voiced concern about the continued crackdown on journalists in the country and the need for the authorities to protect a free press, address inconsistencies and…

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